Our State Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. opposes its use and has co-sponsored bills to stop its application on our bays and harbors.

Yet, Suffolk County persists in its annual spraying of the poisonous pesticide methoprene on our marshlands. County officials say they cannot heed local appeals, and vow to continue the annual noxious and noisy helicopter sprayings to combat mosquitoes.

But there are other non-toxic mosquito-control approaches and, what's more, methoprene does far more than kill mosquito larvae: methoprene is highly toxic to some species of invertebrates. It's lethal to crustacean larvae — immature lobsters and crabs — which is why Connecticut made its use illegal under most circumstances. What's more, studies have shown that methoprene is believed to kill the larvae of certain other non-target insects, including dragonflies, which feed voraciously on mosquitoes. And, the chemical's long-term effects on ecosystems and human health remain unstudied, which is a significant concern.

Methoprene is so widely recognized as toxic to lobsters — and suspected as one of the causes of the decline of the lobster fishery in Long Island Sound — that U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy of Connecticut and other top Connecticut officials asked Governor Andrew Cuomo to join Connecticut and ban its use on Long Island and New York. The governor has so far ignored the request.

Methoprene is a poison that has no place in our treasured local waters, which are under ever-increasing assault from surface and ground-source contamination due to human activity. Moreover, the spraying of methoprene has and continues to harm lobster and crab populations, living resources that are vital to our local economy, quality of life, and culture.

Stand against poisons in our beloved natural places, our bays and harbors. Join the fight against methoprene spraying on South Fork marshlands, beginning with Accabonac Harbor in Springs and Napeague Harbor in Amagansett, by signing this petition. Only through our sheer numbers followed by our plan to use this petition as a powerful political tool will we get the attention of county politicians to order a stop to the spraying and put an end to this wasteful, poisonous government program.

Action plan. To use this petition to:

• Work toward an end to methoprene use on Accabonac and Napeague harbors as a first step to enact legislation ending methoprene use on Long Island and New York state. As in Connecticut, the law could include a provision that the ban can be lifted in the event of a health emergency from mosquito populations.

• Work with local, county, and state officials to promote healthy marsh ecosystems, with healthy predator/prey relationships, which has proved successful elsewhere to eliminate pesticide spraying.